Auction Information

Fundraising Ideas Using eBay


Have you thought of using the online auction site eBay as your next major fundraiser?

I have, and it was a huge success!

Like many other businesses the fundraising business has seen an incredible change since the internet. Everyday there are new tools, softwares and websites that are making fundraising not only easier but a lot more fun. One of my favorite fundraising sites is eBay.com

There are many different ways you can take advantage of eBay's services and use it as a fundraiser:

? Selling your member's junk - This is something I did to fundraise for my son's preschool. I collected items from member's attics, closets and garages and sold them on eBay. We rose over $3,000 for our little preschool, which was a lot for us. However, even though I got volunteers to help, it was way too much work. At the time, eBay was my business and I knew what I was doing. I cannot imagine someone who does not know anything about the collecting business or selling on eBay to attempt this.

? Selling your member's junk using a professional eBay seller - Since eBay has become a major profession for many people, there are businesses today that specialize in selling for you. Find such a business and have them do all the work. All you have to do is collect the stuff and they will advertise, sell, and ship the items for you and send you a check. You can find a seller on eBay that lives near you through eBay's Trading Assistant program, or use a service like Auction Drop or I-Soldit.

? New items donated by members - Many times members will donate products rather than money. EBay makes it easy for you to sell these items. Not only will you probably get a better price in a market that has millions of buyers but also this will increase your organization's visibility and potentially attract new members.

? Sell local and national gift certificates - I've done this with the preschool auction. Besides selling member's stuff, we collected local and national gift certificates. Most businesses are very generous and are happy to give you a certificate. If the business that donated the certificate had a website, I put a link to it from the eBay ad. The great thing about listing gift certificates on eBay is that you don't have to take a picture and the description is easy. However, You MUST advertise the gift certificates: Besides sending out emails to all our members with instructions to forward the email to family and friends, I placed a free ad in the local Santa Cruz Market newsgroups advertising the auction and the gift certificates. You can find newsgroups that are specific for your area.

? Sell a calendar or cookbook etc. - eBay has a cool section especially for charity organizations. Go to eBay and check it out by looking for Charity Auctions. I've seen some organizations sell their calendar, cookbook, or whatever on eBay. If you have a supply of these items you can have an ongoing auction selling that item (you would have to re-list it every 7 days).

This has great potential for a nonprofit that helps more universal causes like homelessness, Cancer/AIDS, ecology and so forth. Signing up on eBay as a nonprofit organization gets you listed under a special section. Some people browse these lists and will often buy something from the organization just for the support. EBay also supplies nonprofits with their own web page describing the organization with links back to their major site.

? Encourage members and friends who sell on eBay to sign up for eBay's new Giving Works - EBay's Giving Works program helps sellers to easily donate a portion of their sale to their favorite nonprofit. The seller chooses a nonprofit from a list (or can add a new one) and pledges to a certain percentage of the sale to that nonprofit. The pledged percentage is taken out automatically by eBay after the auction. It could not be any easier.

Frustrated with the usual unorganized school fundraisers Suzanne Wouk turned to the internet in search of a better way. To her amazement and delight, she found so many new and exciting ways to fundraise that she started the site FundraisingMom.com in order to share the information and ideas with others.


MORE RESOURCES:

Northwest Cable News

Fed auctions $138 billion to banks at 1.39%
MarketWatch - 14 hours ago
By Deborah Levine NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The Federal Reserve said on Tuesday it loaned $138.09 billion through its Term Auction Facility on Monday, ...
Fed pumps billions more into banks CNNMoney.com
Fed Announces Schedule For Upcoming TAF Auctions RTT News
Fed lays out details for bank loans The Associated Press
The Standard - MarketWatch
all 171 news articles


Wall Street Journal Blogs

Investment exec forfeits bonus in settlement with AG
Newsday, NY - 8 hours ago
Auction-rate securities are a fairly new type of special bond, usually issued by a municipality, whose interest is reset at auctions as frequently as every ...
Aufhauser, New York Settle Insider-Trading Allegations Wall Street Journal
Aufhauser, Former UBS GC, Settles Insider-Trading Allegations Wall Street Journal Blogs
Ex-UBS Counsel Settles Trading Case New York Times
Reuters - International Herald Tribune
all 75 news articles


New York Times

EBay Pushes Deeper Into Payments as Auctions Flag
Wall Street Journal Blogs, NY - 14 hours ago
By MYLENE MANGALINDAN Looking for new growth engines as it struggles to revive its flagship auction site, eBay Inc. agreed to acquire Bill Me Later Inc. for ...
Quick Hits: eBay Auctions Off Employees Minyanville.com
UPDATE 4-EBay to cut jobs, sees revs at low end; shares fall Reuters
eBay cuts back its workforce after auction slowdown South Korea News
Los Angeles Times - ReadWriteWeb
all 1,061 news articles


Bank of Canada stands aside from co-ordinated US$ auctions by ...
The Canadian Press, OTTAWA - 15 hours ago
The bank said it "welcomes these initiatives," but "judges that it is not necessary for it to participate in these auctions at this time. ...
Canada to Skip Dollar Auction by Other Central Banks (Update1) Bloomberg
UPDATE 1-Bank of Canada opts out of coordinated US$ actions Reuters
Central banks expand US dollar pool Globe and Mail
Reuters
all 61 news articles


Homebuyers Hit Internet for Best Deals in Las Vegas
MarketWatch - 52 minutes ago
This is no typical auction. "Las Vegas has seen more than its share of unsuccessful outcry auctions this year but nothing like our online auction," notes ...


Indian bond yields seen ranged ahead of auctions
Reuters India, India - 1 hour ago
MUMBAI, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Indian federal bond yields are expected to be rangebound on Wednesday as traders watch auctions that could squeeze availability of ...
Indian bond yields flat ahead of fresh supplies Reuters India
India cbank says sets minimum underwriting on bonds Reuters India
all 4 news articles


IRL : Graham Rahal auctions off Paul Newman tribute helmet for charity
F1SA, UK - 8 hours ago
The helmet that Graham Rahal wore during the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio is up for auction on the online auction site eBay. This one of a kind helmet was ...


Pricing Unexpected On GSE Settlement Auctions
DW Online, NY - 10 hours ago
The higher closing price of subordinate versus senior bonds during the settlement auctions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac yesterday have some market ...
Of October CDS Auctions and Helicopter Ben Seeking Alpha
all 3 news articles


Ultimate Ski, Travel and Resort 1-800 Brand Opportunity Available ...
MarketWatch - 8 hours ago
CHICAGO, Oct 07, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Ocean Tomo Auctions, LLC today announced that it will make available to the public for the first time the ultimate ...
Carlson Auctioning Three WiMax and 3G Arena Patents TMCnet
A Rare and Unparalleled Offering in Today's Real Estate Market ... Ad-Hoc-News (Pressemitteilung)
A Rare and Unparalleled Offering in Today's Real Estate Market ... MarketWatch
all 12 news articles


Christian Science Monitor

Crescenzi: Good News from the Fed's Auctions
CNBC, Englewood Cliffs - 11 hours ago
Results of the Federal Reserve's weekly opening of its Term Auction Facility, the facility the Fed created last December to auction loans to depository ...
Fed to double cash auctions to banks, up to $900 billion International Herald Tribune
Fed to boost auctions, pay interest on reserves Reuters
Fed to buy commercial paper to ease market strain MarketWatch
24/7 Wall St. - Forbes
all 1,536 news articles

Auctions - Google News

home | site map
© 2006